Updated FEMA flood map now includes more Apache Junction homes

APACHE JUNCTION, AZ (AZFamily) — FEMA is updating their floodplain map and some people in part of Apache Junction are learning this week their homes are now in flood zones.

FEMA updates flood maps about every five years.

The report floodplain zones are areas with a 1% chance of flooding each year or a 26% chance of flooding during a 30-year mortgage life span.

Apache Junction was hit hard by flooding back in the summer of 2022.

“The water, it went up to the inside of my house. It was up to probably my ankles,” said Sandra Thorpe as she recalled that hectic summer.

Thorpe said her family has owned the land since the 1960s, and they’ve never experienced anything like that fateful summer.

Today, she even keeps sandbags around her home in case something similar happens again.

“I just kind of left them because I don’t want to risk having water come through again,” Thorpe said.

Now FEMA is reporting her home and dozens of others in the area are now officially in a floodplain zone.

Thorpe said she not surprised by the change.

According to FEMA, if you have a federally backed mortgage, you are required to have flood insurance if you live in a floodplain zone.

They also report if you have a private mortgage, to check your policy because they may also have the same requirements.

Thorpe said she didn’t have flood insurance when her home was hit and it ended up costing her a lot.

Last September, the federal government gave Apache Junction more than $44 million to tackle the flooding problem along the wash by building a new facility to regulate water flow.

That project could impact future flood maps from FEMA once completed, but we don’t know when that will be.

These homeowners can still appeal FEMA’s decision; they have until the fall to do so.

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